Remitly Global (RELY) risk factors, 2025 10-K

Business and Industry Risks

1. 01We operate in a highly competitive and evolving industry and may be unable to compete successfully against existing and future competitors that employ a variety of existing business models and technologies or new innovations
2. 02We may not be able to innovate, improve existing products, or develop new products that achieve acceptance
3. 03We have experienced rapid growth in recent periods, which places substantial demands on our management and operational resources. We expect we will need to continue to enhance our operational, financial, and management controls and our reporting systems and procedures to manage this growth
4. 04We partner with third parties to support fulfillment of our service, including risk management, payment processing, customer support, cloud hosting, and disbursement, which exposes us to risks outside of our control
5. 05If we, our partners, or our industry generally are unable to provide a high-quality and secure customer experience in the various locales in which we operate, our brand could suffer reputational damage and our business results could be harmed
6. 06We transfer large sums of customer funds daily, and are subject to the risk of loss due to errors or fraudulent or illegitimate activities of customers or third parties, any of which could result in financial losses or damage to our reputation and trust in our brand, which would harm our business and financial results
7. 07Our failure to manage our customer funds properly could materially harm our business
8. 08We have a history of operating losses and there is no assurance that our business will become consistently profitable
9. 09Our recent rapid growth, including growth in our volume of payments, may not be indicative of our future growth. Our rapid growth also makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful

Cybersecurity, Privacy, Intellectual Property, and Technology Risks

1. 10Any significant interruption or failure of our system availability, including failure to successfully implement upgrades or new technologies to our mobile app or website, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, reputation, and future prospects
2. 11If we are unable to adequately obtain, maintain, protect, defend, or enforce our IP Rights, our business, financial condition, operating results, reputation, and future prospects could be harmed
3. 12Our use and provision of AI-powered solutions could lead to operational or reputational damage, legal and regulatory risk, and additional costs
4. 13Assertions by third parties of infringement, misappropriation, or other violations by us of their IP Rights could result in significant costs and substantially harm our business and operating results
5. 14Our use of open source and third-party technology could impose limitations on our ability to offer our products and services to customers
6. 15If we do not or cannot maintain the compatibility of our product offerings with the most popular mobile, desktop, and tablet device and browser platforms, our revenue and growth prospects may decline

Legal and Compliance Risks

1. 16Any failure to obtain or maintain necessary licenses, permissions, approvals, or registrations (“Licenses”) across our global footprint could adversely affect our operations
2. 17Our fees, profit margins, and/or our ability to offer foreign exchange spreads may be reduced or limited because of regulatory initiatives and changes in laws and regulations or their interpretation and industry practices and standards that are either industry-wide or specifically targeted at our Company
3. 18The enhanced supervisory and compliance environment in the financial sector increases the risk of regulatory action against us, whether formal or informal
4. 19Use of our service for illegal, improper, or fraudulent activities could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, reputation, and future prospects
5. 20Governments may decide to impose restrictions or levy new taxes on money transfers or other digital financial services provided by us, which would harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
6. 21Failure to comply with sanctions laws, anti-terrorist financing laws, anti-money laundering laws, and similar laws associated with our activities outside of the United States, and anti-corruption laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences
7. 22If our disbursement partners fail to comply with applicable laws, it could harm our business
8. 23Failure to comply with global and evolving marketing laws could subject us to claims or otherwise harm our business
9. 24From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings, disciplinary actions, regulatory disputes, and governmental investigations that could cause us to incur significant expenses, divert our management’s attention, and materially harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects

Operational Risks

1. 25We are exposed to the risk of loss or insolvency if our disbursement partners fail to disburse funds according to our instructions or were to become insolvent unexpectedly, or funds are disbursed before customer funds are guaranteed to be sufficient
2. 26If there is any material change of service terms or loss of coverage in our payment processors and disbursement network, our business could be harmed
3. 27If our disbursement partners do not provide a positive recipient experience, our business could be harmed
4. 28Increases in various types of fees, such as interchange fees, payment scheme fees, and disbursement fees, could increase our costs, affect our profitability, cause us to lose customers, or otherwise limit our operations
5. 29The loss of one or more key members of our management team, or our failure to attract, integrate, and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could harm our business
6. 30If we cannot maintain our company culture as we grow, our success and our business may be harmed
7. 31Interruptions or delays in the services provided by data centers or internet service providers could impair the delivery of our services and our business could be impacted
8. 32Sustained financial market illiquidity, or illiquidity at our partner financial institutions, could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
9. 33Acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships, collaborations, or alliances could be difficult to identify and integrate, divert the attention of management, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
10. 34Remitly Global is a holding company with no operations of its own and is the ultimate parent of a network of local subsidiaries, each of which is subject to different local regulations. In the future, we may depend on our subsidiaries to fund our operations and expenses
11. 35As our international operations increase, or more of our expenses are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, our operating results may be more greatly affected by fluctuations in local markets or the exchange rates of the currencies in which we do business
12. 36These and other factors could harm our international operations and, consequently, materially impact our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
13. 37Risks associated with operations outside the United States and with foreign currencies could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
14. 38Historically, a substantial amount of our revenue has been derived from remittances to Mexico, India, and the Philippines, and our business could be significantly affected by any adverse changes in these regions

Financial Risks

1. 39If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected
2. 40If one or more of our counterparties, including financial institutions, aggregators, and local cash pick-up institutions where we have cash on deposit, or our lenders and potential hedging counterparties, default on their financial or performance obligations to us or fail, we may incur significant losses
3. 41We have built proprietary financial systems as part of our technology stack. Such systems could become unstable, include defects, experience outages, and include undetected errors, each of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
4. 42The development and use of quantitative models in our business may present risks and challenges that could adversely impact us
5. 43We expect fluctuations in our financial results, making it difficult to project future results, and if we fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors with respect to our operating results, our stock price and the value of your investment could decline
6. 44Inaccurate forecasts of our customer growth and retention could result in higher operating expenses relative to actual revenue and ultimately harm our business
7. 45If the revenue generated by new customers differs significantly from our expectations, or if our customer acquisition costs or costs associated with servicing our customers increase, we may not be able to recover our customer acquisition costs or generate profits from this investment
8. 46Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations which could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
9. 47Changes and evolving requirements in tax laws or their interpretation, including as applied to us and our customers, could adversely affect our business
10. 48In addition, tax benefits we currently receive in certain jurisdictions require us to meet several conditions and may be challenged or terminated or reduced in the future, which would increase our taxes, possibly with a retroactive effect
11. 49We may not be able to secure additional financing in a timely manner, on satisfactory terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs, which could impair our ability to execute on our business plan
12. 50Failure to maintain sufficient capital could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and future prospects
13. 51This requires us to have access to significant amounts of capital, particularly at high volume sending times, which we may not be able to forecast accurately. Our need to access capital will increase as our number of customers, transactions processed, and total send volume increases
14. 52Changes in our effective tax rate or tax liability may adversely affect our operating results
15. 53If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting estimates prove to be incorrect, our operating results could be adversely affected

General Risks

1. 54The insurance we maintain may be insufficient to cover our losses resulting from any such incidents or events, and any such incidents or events may result in loss of, or increased costs of, such insurance

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

1. 55The price of our common stock has been, and may continue to be, volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may lose part or all of your investment
2. 56Concentration of ownership of our common stock among our existing executive officers, directors, and principal stockholders may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions
3. 57Future sales of our common stock in the public market could cause the market price of our common stock to decline
4. 58Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware or other state law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management, and affect the market price of our common stock
5. 59We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock
6. 60If securities or industry analysts publish unfavorable or inaccurate research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline
7. 61Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains exclusive forum provisions for certain claims, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees